1) What is food insecurity?
Food insecurity is just another name for poverty. It’s the painful choice between paying the electricity bill or the grocery bill; paying a medical copay or buying the chicken you hoped to roast for Saturday night’s dinner; deciding between a bigger bag of shelf-stable rice or those strawberries your child loves so much.
2) What is food security?
Food security depends on the four As - Availability (is there enough), Accessibility (is it easy to find), Affordability (this means everyone can buy it) and Adequacy (for a nutritious, balanced diet).
3) What is a food desert?
This is really a misnomer. A food desert is where there is a lot of junk food (food that is high in calories but not nutritious like high fat and high sugar foods) but there is a dearth of healthy, fresh food.
4) Why are there less supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods?
Supermarkets have a razor-thin margin of profit because so much of their food is perishable. People who are poor cannot afford a lot of perishable food and tend to buy shelf-stable, large size products that last. This is why you see pharmacies and dollar stores stock shelves with these shelf-stable items and few perishables. Also, landlords can charge more money for stores that don’t lose money on expired food.
5) Why are food stamps good and why should they be increased?
Food stamps (called SNAP – supplemental nutrition assistance program) is great for a number of reasons: It specifically helps people buy food; it is accepted in many different kinds of food stores like groceries, bodegas, even gas stations; it’s good for the economy because it gives people money to buy food; it helps ensure better nutrition and health. However, the cost of food has increased significantly and most people run out of food stamps by the 3rd week of the month.
6) Are there that many people who are food insecure in NYC?
Between lost jobs due to COVID, the rise in grocery prices and children at home instead of at school, more families are struggling to put food on the table. The newest New York City data indicates that over two million people and one out of every four children are food insecure. In a recent survey, more than one-third of those reporting food scarcity in the prior week had been food sufficient before the pandemic.
7) What do people eat if they run out of food stamps or don’t receive them?
People eat what they can get. They stand in line at food pantries and are given what the pantry has (you’ve seen the long lines that have increased significantly since COVID). They pick up free cold meals from the City’s schools and seniors receive deliveries of these meals. They get food from a local church food drive. And they beg. And they go hungry. Data shows that parents will go hungry to ensure their children are fed.
8) Why are so many food insecure people obese?
When you cannot afford healthy, fresh food, you eat what you can afford. Products that are high in calories from fat and sugar, and that are shelf-stable, tend to be cheaper.
9) Who collects this data on food insecurity?
The USDA is the main one – they do this annually. However, some local and regional food banks as well as some research groups do as well.
10) How many people in NYC are food insecure?
We don’t know the exact number but the newest New York City data indicates that over two million people and one out of every four children are food insecure. In a recent survey, more than one-third of those reporting food scarcity in the prior week had been food sufficient before the pandemic.
Food insecurity is just another name for poverty. It’s the painful choice between paying the electricity bill or the grocery bill; paying a medical copay or buying the chicken you hoped to roast for Saturday night’s dinner; deciding between a bigger bag of shelf-stable rice or those strawberries your child loves so much.
2) What is food security?
Food security depends on the four As - Availability (is there enough), Accessibility (is it easy to find), Affordability (this means everyone can buy it) and Adequacy (for a nutritious, balanced diet).
3) What is a food desert?
This is really a misnomer. A food desert is where there is a lot of junk food (food that is high in calories but not nutritious like high fat and high sugar foods) but there is a dearth of healthy, fresh food.
4) Why are there less supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods?
Supermarkets have a razor-thin margin of profit because so much of their food is perishable. People who are poor cannot afford a lot of perishable food and tend to buy shelf-stable, large size products that last. This is why you see pharmacies and dollar stores stock shelves with these shelf-stable items and few perishables. Also, landlords can charge more money for stores that don’t lose money on expired food.
5) Why are food stamps good and why should they be increased?
Food stamps (called SNAP – supplemental nutrition assistance program) is great for a number of reasons: It specifically helps people buy food; it is accepted in many different kinds of food stores like groceries, bodegas, even gas stations; it’s good for the economy because it gives people money to buy food; it helps ensure better nutrition and health. However, the cost of food has increased significantly and most people run out of food stamps by the 3rd week of the month.
6) Are there that many people who are food insecure in NYC?
Between lost jobs due to COVID, the rise in grocery prices and children at home instead of at school, more families are struggling to put food on the table. The newest New York City data indicates that over two million people and one out of every four children are food insecure. In a recent survey, more than one-third of those reporting food scarcity in the prior week had been food sufficient before the pandemic.
7) What do people eat if they run out of food stamps or don’t receive them?
People eat what they can get. They stand in line at food pantries and are given what the pantry has (you’ve seen the long lines that have increased significantly since COVID). They pick up free cold meals from the City’s schools and seniors receive deliveries of these meals. They get food from a local church food drive. And they beg. And they go hungry. Data shows that parents will go hungry to ensure their children are fed.
8) Why are so many food insecure people obese?
When you cannot afford healthy, fresh food, you eat what you can afford. Products that are high in calories from fat and sugar, and that are shelf-stable, tend to be cheaper.
9) Who collects this data on food insecurity?
The USDA is the main one – they do this annually. However, some local and regional food banks as well as some research groups do as well.
10) How many people in NYC are food insecure?
We don’t know the exact number but the newest New York City data indicates that over two million people and one out of every four children are food insecure. In a recent survey, more than one-third of those reporting food scarcity in the prior week had been food sufficient before the pandemic.